Devotion
by
Nana
Chapter 2
The Guardian
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Author's Note: Woo! Mixed reviews for the first chapter! Hehehe…! There's nothing more challenging than that! Go right ahead and review! There's nothing wrong with submitting negative reviews, but please be objective enough to point out the things you didn't like. I encourage constructive criticism because I'd like to hear your comments on how I can improve things. That was how I learned from my mistakes in the previous chapters of my other fics, and I appreciated my reviewers for their corrections, so certainly I will appreciate all the help I can get from you guys. ^^
So on with the story--sort of a mini AU wherein the characters live and move within the Sengoku Jidai but assuming different (or not so different?) roles. Please give this fic a chance, and do read and review!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha (sob!)
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The strange, white-haired youth moved through the shifting crowds, scowling. Perhaps it was the thunderous expression on his face and not the lightweight armor he was wearing or the heavy sword he was carrying that was making people nervous. They gave him a wide berth as he charged past.
She had better not let him catch her, because she was already in so much trouble as it was. And by that very definition, she had gotten him into deep trouble as well.
He knew he was going to have difficulty finding her. And the Hime's ladies were partly to blame for this. They had been too malleable, too easily swayed by the Hime's charm to refuse her anything. She had never been as cloistered as he sometimes wished her upbringing could turn her out to be. Back home, on a whim, she could persuade her nanny and ladies to accompany her to the local market for some bit of cloth or perhaps to help out with buying the weekly rations needed in the palace. A totally unconventional way to bring up a lady of noble birth, as far as he was concerned. But then her family, although respected for generations, were not that rich to afford complete idleness in its members.
As a result, he now had in his hands a mistress who knew enough of life outside palace walls to be able to maneuver her way through a busy market, perhaps be able to swindle a merchant or two into giving in to her bargaining, and who knows? She might be clever enough to hitch a ride to--where?
If she has money, he thought. He doubted it, but there was really no telling what she had up her sleeves.
And where would she go? She wouldn't know a thing about the dangers lurking in a strange town where she was virtually a stranger.
And thinking about it was enough to bring a chill down Inu Yasha's spine. The fear that drove him now was almost as strong as the shock that accompanied his discovery that the Hime had gone missing….
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It was the day the Hime was going to meet her betrothed for the first time.
Of course, Inu Yasha knew his master would one day give away the hand of his only daughter in marriage. It was only a question of time.
The only problem was, he kept the whole arrangement such a secret not even his daughter had an idea what the motive behind this sudden, "surprise" trip to the countryside was.
To make matters worse, she had learned of it from her ladies-in-waiting who, like Inu Yasha, had only heard of it the night before. The daimyo had been drinking with her father, and the servant girl attending to their cups was too young to learn discretion. Besides, the gossip was too irresistible to hold back. The news had spread like wildfire through the servant's quarters, and from there, to the Hime's ladies.
There had been no time to talk to her. It was not customary--and he could never maneuver to get her alone--for him to address her in the daytime. She was perpetually flanked by her servants. And yet the announcement he had heard last night had prompted him to make a visit at her guest quarters anyway. As usual, the anteroom outside her chamber was filled with the ladies waiting on her.
They had told him in desultory tones that the Hime had taken the news very badly and wished to be alone for a while. When she was ready, she would call on them to help her with the changing of her elaborate, heavy robes. She had not called for him, and therefore, he could not be granted an audience with her.
"But Kaede-baba!" he had said, struggling to keep his tone from rising with impatience. "I am--"
"You know who you are, Inu Yasha," the Hime's nanny had told him severely, "and you shall remain in your place."
Oooh! If he could only sock one to her face! He thought, fuming as he went away.
You know who you are…
Feh! Now that he thought about it, WHO was he to the Hime exactly?
Apart from being the junior retainer-cum-guardian her father had appointed to look over her whenever she went out, and apart from knowing the Hime since they were small children, he was nothing much to her, really.
Idiots, he thought bitterly as he scowled over the pond in the daimyo's expansive garden. Multi-colored carp came swimming up in hopeful expectation, disturbing the surface of the still waters, and Inu Yasha was lost in his thoughts.
Like his father, Inu Yasha had entered into a life of service for the Hime's father--the local daimyo--when he was young. He had been ten years old and tending to the horses when he had first seen the Hime, then seven, stroll up with Kaede, her nanny, to look at the horses.
From day one, the Hime had been trouble.
She had been on best behavior when Kaede-san had been with her; Inu Yasha had let her stroke the horses' mane and let her cuddle the filly that had been born the previous winter.
"Come, then, Hime. You've already seen the horses. It's time we go back lest your mother realize you have gone somewhere you shouldn't have," said the nanny with a nervous edge to her voice.
And she had quietly gone with her. At the last minute, though, she had turned back to Inu Yasha and had given him a mischievous wink--a portend of things to come.
During her supposed naptime, she had gone back to the stables totally unchaperoned and had asked Inu Yasha in her unique, direct way to teach her how to ride horses.
Inu Yasha had stared at her incredulously before saying, "I will NOT!"
The things that went through his head just then had been unpleasant enough to guarantee a permanent place in his memories as long as he would live. The Hime…missing!…found playing at the stables…riding lessons from Inu Yasha! If Kaede-san would not finish him off, he was sure his father would.
This did not seem to discourage the Hime. Rather than back down, the little Hime had given him a wide grin of utter delight and said, "Really? You won't?"
Apparently, it was a novelty for the Hime to encounter resistance, and she had found this charming rather than irksome of the older boy. Rather than slaking her persistence, his flat refusal only spurred her to pester him more--a move that had exasperated and disarmed him. Much to Inu Yasha's chagrin, she had never let go of him ever since. Perhaps the Hime had been lonely for company her age. The mansion was too large a place for a small girl without brothers and sisters.
They could never exchange so much as a word in the presence of others (indeed, there was no reason for them to meet at all), but there would always be an unguarded moment or two every day when the Hime could slip away (a remarkable ability learned and perfected from childhood), when they could talk, and do whatever they wanted. Or rather, she would chat about her day and he would listen, pretending to be disinterested and sulky. Well, he had been at first. Early on in his stay her father's house, he had learned of the Hime's persuasive charm to get what she wanted, and he had been filled with derision for such a manipulative chit.
But somehow, she was not at all like that when one got to know her better.
In time, she was able to get her riding lessons from him (under the supervision of an older retainer) with her parents' permission, but she had managed to cling on to their tenuous friendship until he had caught her father's eye as adequately skilled to serve as the Hime's personal bodyguard.
And now, she's getting married…
It was so difficult to understand where all the years had gone. But there was nothing they could do except to grow up. He was now nineteen, and she sixteen, and there was no stopping the destiny that awaited a Hime…
A shout resounded in the quiet garden, and Inu Yasha broke out of his reverie to find Myouga-jichan, private secretary of his master, making a panicked beeline for him.
"I-Inu Yasha!!! Something has happened--his lordship demands your presence in the Hime's quarters at once!"
Without another word, Inu Yasha ran.
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As he looked back on those surreal moments that had been put to past only a few hours ago, Inu Yasha still could not believe she had the audacity to seal her fate like this.
Without her father's arrival, the Hime's absence would have been missed for several more hours. He had gone to her chambers to explain what was inevitable, and it was only when Kaede entered the Hime's main chambers to announce his arrival that she realized the bulky mass they were mistaking as the Hime through the rough, transluscent barrier of the screens that separated the ladies and their mistress was indeed nothing more than layer after layer of her heavy outer robes, arranged carefully so as to make for an appearance of a figure lying huddled on the ground in a state of acute misery.
Inu Yasha's master was beside himself by the time he showed up in the Hime's rooms. One look at the whole scene was enough to fill him in. The dainty, low garden wall beyond the windows told him how she got away and what direction she had started off in.
The girl had learned to scale trees higher than that sorry excuse for a wall before she turned ten, so it was definitely no hard feat to accomplish. Only…
That stupid fool…! Inu Yasha had thought as he felt something powerful and frightening clench at his gut. Shock, relief, worry and an immeasurable amount of anger blended to make him feel light-headed.
After he found her and brought her back (and bring her back he will), she will never be able to escape like this ever again.
"How could you have allowed this to happen?!" Was the first thing his master threw at the young man. "You were supposed to be here to keep a close eye on her!"
Inu Yasha shot Kaede a withering look but decided not to comment.
"You must find the Hime and bring her back safely. Goodness knows what prompted the child to do what she did!"
Inu Yasha would have given lots to answer that one, but again, he knew it was not his place to say anything in front of his master.
"And bring her back without telling a soul!" said his master urgently. "The Daimyo and his household must not learn of this scandal!"
"But sir, the arranged--"
"The interview has been postponed. The young master of the house has come down with an illness and cannot receive visitors. Time is in our hands but we must hurry before something happens to the Hime! You must find her quickly, Inu Yasha! And breathe no word of this to anybody!"
Inu Yasha swore under his breath as he weaved his way through the thick crowds, the midday sun shining down to make his head of white hair a cap of shining gold.
Of course, the Hime was going to get it when he found her. Yep. She was really going to get it. This he promised.
Until then, you must remain safe, Hime…
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